Student Visas
Know the process
Students, once accepted into their full degree programme, should determine if they are required to apply for a student visa.
- Students with citizenship from an EU member country (or Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland), are exempt from student visa requirements.
- All other students must apply for a student visa.
The standard processing time to obtain a visa once the application is accepted at the Embassy is 60 days - however it can take longer - so always start immediately.
Applying for the student visa
We strongly encourage students to look at all requirements for the Czech student visa once they have applied and have been accepted. Within 2-4 weeks from acceptance into the programme at the Faculty of Social Studies, official admission documents, and documents related to accommodation will be mailed to you. For this reason, we encourage all students who require visas to apply prior to the final application deadline to give themselves more time to apply.
Students should always refer to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure they have the most up to date information. However, the following documents are typically what is required.
- Application form
- 2 photographs
- Travel document
- Document of the purpose of stay
- Proof of accommodation
- Proof of funds
- Parental consent (minors)
- Register of Criminal Record or an equivalent document (translated into Czech)
- Proof of medical insurance -For visa purposes you must use the comprehensive care only.
All applications must be submitted at the Czech embassy/consulate. Students whose countries fall under the 'Student Mode' (see below) must first have the university put their name on the list. To understand the timeline and process of the student mode, please read below.
Student Mode
Student Mode is the method for students from specific countries to apply for their visas. To simplify the visa process for students from selected countries who have been accepted to study at universities in the Czech Republic, in 2017 the Student Mode was set up.
In order for students from the following countries to enter the Czech Republic for studies, they must apply via the Student Mode.
List of countries
The list of countries in the Student mode and the monthly quota. Valid from 1 January 2024
| Country included in the student regime | embassy | Monthly quota |
| Algeria | Algiers | 5 |
| Armenia | Yerevan | 10 |
| Azerbaijan | Baku | 20 |
| Brazil Surinam, Guyana |
Sao Paolo | 10 |
| Brasilia | 10 | |
| Bosnia and Hercegovina | Sarajevo | without quota |
| China | Beijing | 10 |
| Shanghai | 10 | |
| Egypt | Cairo | 15 |
| Ethiopia Comoros, Seychelles | Addis Abeba | 10 |
| Philippines Nauru, Marschall Islands, Micronesia and Palau | Manila | 17 |
| Georgia | Tbilisi | 10 |
| India Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan |
Delhi | 60 |
| Iraq | Erbil | 10 |
| Iran1 | Tehran | 15 |
| South Africa Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique |
Pretoria | 5 |
| Kazahstan Kyrgyzstan |
Astana | 30 |
| Colombia Costa Rica Panama, Barbados Venezuela Dominica Grenada, Saint Lucia Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago |
Bogota | 10 |
| Morocco | Rabat | 10 |
| Mongolia | Ulaanbaatar | 20 |
| Peru Ecuador | Lima | 10 |
| Serbia | Belgrade | 33 |
| Tunisia | Tunis | 5 |
| Turkey | Ankara | 35 |
| Istanbul | 35 | |
| Ukraine | Kyiv | 36 |
| Lviv | 13 | |
| Uzbekistan Tajikistan Turkmenistan |
Tashkent | 20 |
| Vietnam | Hanoi | 40 |
| Zambia Zimbabwe Malawi |
Lusaka | 10 |
| 1 In the case of students from Iran, it is necessary to take into account United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 from 2006, Resolution 1747 from 2007, and a series of subsequent resolutions, notably Resolution 2231 from 2015, which concern the Iranian nuclear program and the imposed sanctions | ||
Understanding the Student Mode
At the university we have the possibility to nominate accepted students from specific countries to student mode list. The nomination is always at the embassy by nationality, so for example if your nationality in Nigerian we are allowed to nominate you only to the Czech embassy in Abuja (Nigeria). If you live in another country and you´ll be allowed to apply for visa at the Czech embassy there you must secure your appointment yourself.
This list is sent from the university to the ministry within the given deadlines. We are not allowed to add students at any time but only when is the deadline given by the ministry.
Each embassy has a monthly quota and we are not allowed to nominate more students than this quota. For example, the quota for the Czech embassy in Ghana is 15 places per month for all Czech universities. Masaryk University has 10 faculties and the IRO office at each faculty nominates their accepted students. Already at this stage it happens that some students have to be removed from the list which is sent to the ministry because in total there´ll be more students nominated than the monthly quota.
According to the rules determined by the ministry the priority is given to Ph.D. students, then Master students and at the end there are Bachelor students. According to these rules, we create a final list that is sent from the university to the ministry.
The university gives the priority to students who were already added to the sent list during previous dates but they weren´t added to the final list for the embassy by the ministry because of insufficient quotas. In countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India there is a minimal chance to be on the final list for the embassy in the first attempt.
When the student is nominated by the university, the list is sent to the ministry and at that point it is completely out of our control who´ll be on the final list for the embassy.
After the list is sent it´s necessary to wait about 2 weeks to get the information from the ministry to find out who is at the final list for the embassy.
If the student is nominated by the ministry to the final list for the embassy, the embassy will contact this student directly with the appointment date. So, if you´ll get the information from the university that you are on the final list it´s necessary to keep checking your email including the spam box.
The appointment date given by the embassy can´t be changed and the embassy usually contacts nominated students few days before the appointment so it´s necessary to be prepared with all required documents.
If you´ll miss the given appointment in most of the countries it is unlikely that you´ll be able to get a new appointment anytime soon.
The student mode is only to help students with the appointment date, it cannot affect or speed up the visa process.
What is my chance of getting a visa on Student Mode?
As you can understand by reading the previous section, there are many steps that are out of both the students' and the university's control.
Once a student is accepted into the full degree programme, the following steps take place.
- FSS will confirm with students if they have all required documents ready.
- FSS sends the list of students to be put on Student Mode centrally, and the students get added to the list to be sent for the whole university (Masaryk University sends one list to the ministry). Students who were accepted and not put on the list in the first round, will be considered at a higher priority for the second round (i.e. if you were accepted in September, you will probably have a higher priority then someone accepted in November).
- The list of students are sent to the ministry, who then prioritize based on level of studies (first priority to PhD students, then masters, then bachelors)
- The ministry determines who from the Masaryk University list will make it to their final list. MU representatives will only know who is added to the list after about 2 weeks.
- If a student is put on the list by the ministry, the student will get the information directly to their email about next steps - so check your email and spam/junk folders!
Students should recognize that it is the universities priority that accepted students are able to arrive and start their studies, therefore we are doing everything we can to help you.
The deadline set by the ministry after submitting the application at the embassy is 60 days, but the process can take much longer if the embassy needs to verify information and documents. Students have waited up to 6 months in the past to receive a decision on their visa.